


What I really want to do

by ZamiShah



Category: Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: He needs more love, Timeskip, and a better conclusion to his character, hop thinks a lot about the past, mostly hop centered, some of them are only mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2019-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-03 16:20:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21664225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZamiShah/pseuds/ZamiShah
Summary: Hop's dreams were crushed in the semifinals and although he thought he would be ok. In reality he wasn't. He felt like the biggest failure and nothing would change it.The thing is that everyone around him went on in life and found a path of their own yet he was left behind not knowing what he really wanted to do.Until it struck him and he made a name of his own.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 52





	What I really want to do

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah I really love Hop. He became my favorite character in the franchise. And I loved it how much attention he got in the games. He was written like a protagonist.  
It's really neat that they carried his arc into the postgame and gave him a conclusion. Though I didn't like the conclusion too much. I think a Professor would not fit him that well so I wrote about a different path he could have taken that would fit him better. (In my opinion)  
And I apologize beforehand if I don't get Hop's and any characters way of speaking right. English is not my native language and have a hard time to present it. If anything is wrong please tell me will try my best to improve!

_I want to help people and Pokémon. I want to protect them and fight for them. I still can be the hero Zacian sees in me._  
Yes. Hop’s greatest dream was to become Champion. To succeed in his gym challenge and face off his older brother. The one he admired the most. The one he wanted to be like. And eventually surpass. He wanted to be a legend. 

But Hop never realized it. That something didn’t fit. Somewhere in his journey he was so lost, that he didn’t know how to go on in life. He questioned every single decision he made. Every single move he used. Every goal he had. He kept losing and losing. He kept doubting and doubting. He kept thinking that all he was doing was butchering Leon’s good name. His popularity. What would the media think? What would Leon be asked in future interviews. 

Yes, Hop worried about that kind of things. He only worried about Leon. Never had he thought about himself. What his problems were. What he needed to do for himself. People laughed at him. Mocked him for his failed battles. Only him. Not Leon. No one called their champion bad. They only questioned his decision to endorse his little brother.  
And then Hop thought that he eventually found what was missing.  
He would never give up. Leon would have never either. Getting up after a loss and trying again that was what made the difference. That was what his brother would tell him. he needed to ignore what others thought about him. he needed to focus in himself and only that. Leon succeeded already, nothing would change this. Even if someone talked bad about him. Only now he understood what it all meant. 

And then he was ready for the Semifinals. He was ready to reach his dreams. But it didn’t end up that way. He couldn’t get past Masaru. He lost in the Semifinals. His dreams ended there. Even if he barely lost. It was the closest call ever. Just his luck that in the end Cinderace fainted. Only a few seconds longer and it would have been Intelion that on the ground first. No one laughed. No one criticized him for his loss. Nothing. If anything, the whole stadium was mesmerized by the battle.

The match had everyone on the edge. Even his brother. In the end after a moment of silence when the winner was announced everyone in the audience started applauding. For Masaru as the winner of course but also for Hop. Never had anyone witnessed such a moment in the stadium. The crowd was filled with joy and showered both challenger with respect. Even Masaru the winner applauded him. that was when Hop should have realized it. That all the people were respecting him. they were giving attention to him. not to the winner but the one that lost the match.  
He never understood at the moment. All he thought was that they were pitying him.

They didn’t.

They all praised him. Leon too. But no matter how much he listened to them. He never felt any better. He never felt like believing them. He smiled anyway and tried his best to convince everybody that he was fine.

He wasn’t. Not when he was praised. Not when he and Masaru saved Galar together as the heroes. No. Nothing made him feel better. He still felt like a failure and nothing would change it.  
Then the final match rolled by. He was sitting there in the crowd. Cheering for his rival. And sure, enough he pulled it through. Masaru won and became Champion. It happened. Leon was no more champion. His winning streak was over. Hop was happy for his friend. Or rather he wanted to be. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t stop his negative thoughts from running wild. He couldn’t stop thinking that it was not him who broke that streak.

But it was what it was. Nothing will change it. Nothing will make it any better.  
The days after felt surreal. He would come home with Leon. Who had time to spare. Which was actually a nice thing. In all those years of his championship Hop hadn’t spent much time with his brother. He liked that a lot. They went to places they visited in the past. They would go to restaurants and eat while chatting about the past year. He would go with Leon to Rose tower and help there with the work. They even took a day off for fancy dress ups and make pictures together. Looking like royalty themselves. And then they posed together for their rare league cards. He finally got to pull off the Charizard pose. 

At least that was one really nice thing that came out of all. Hop loved spending time with his brother. But Leon found a new duty. He was going to lead a battle tower as soon as it was done. Still wanting to fulfill that dream of his to have the strongest trainers in Galar.  
Masaru did well in his duties as Champion and Sonia was rocking it as a professor. Bede took over Opal’s gym and soon Marnie would take her brothers role.  
Everyone found something they want to do. And all those things were awesome. Yet he was left behind with no more goals. Of course, he still wanted to beat Masaru. Of course, he still wanted to surpass his brother. But what after? What will he do once he reaches what he wanted? After all he didn’t need to beat Masaru in an official battle and he didn’t want to either. He wanted a nice and fair battle. Just the two of them and no one else there.

He found himself drifting off into the Slumbering Weald. It was quiet and peaceful. A good place to think right? Or perhaps it was the sword he still had that drove him there. Just like the shield brought Masaru there. And things began to unwind. There were these freaks trying to prove history false and claiming Zacian and Zamazenta to be fakes. It didn’t help that Hop lost the sword to them. He was still useless after all.

He went with Masaru. Went to all gyms again fought off dynamaxed Pokémon. Helped evacuate people out there and bringing them to safety. He was helping but that was the least he could do. After all he failed to protect the sword.

Then they were on that roof top again. Zacian in pain. So much that it left to the Slumbering Weald. He couldn’t bear it anymore. He took back the sword and ran after. He didn’t care about being reckless or stupid. He cared about Zacian and nothing more.  
And he did it. He calmed it down. But to his surprise, Zacian thought him to be worthy enough to become its trainer. That was when it came to him. He was helpful. He was strong. He was not a failure and even the legendary Hero acknowledged him.

One last battle with Champion Masaru and everything was clear. His battle ended in a draw. He didn’t win but didn’t lose either. He was happy for the first time in a long while. And Leon saw his battle. Praised him and only him. He was proud of Hop and told him he would support him in everything.  
Yes, it dawned on him. He finally had a clear goal. He had been doing it during that time. He wanted to help wherever he could. He wanted to protect both human and Pokémon and fight for their sake. He wanted to keep that heroic spirit. Yes, that was his future. A route no one else took. His future goal was clear.

He would be a Ranger.

That had been some years in the past now. Hop was just nostalgic and thought about how stupid he was. How stupid his negative phase was. How simple the solution was. He was getting ready. Jacket on. Cloths all neat and clean. Shoes bound and ready to go. Just then the ring bell. An alarm. Notifying him that danger was lurking around. He looked at his Pokémon. “Alright let’s do this!” He run out with confidence and not his usual recklessness. His task? Go to the wild area and save the day.  
People have seemingly been cornered by Pokémon too strong for them. They were in danger. Life threatening danger. Which happened a lot when people did not follow the rules and got caught up in dangerous situations. 

They were on an island. Surrounded by mainly fire type Pokémon. When Hop came in the state was bad. Aggressive Arcanines were threatening to lash at them any moment now. The people were hurt. One even had a bite mark. Their Pokémon defeated and in their arms. Except for a weakened rock type that tried it’s best to shield the people. They must have overestimated themselves. Luckily they kept the devices they need to call for help. If mobiles won’t work they give a fire sign that will light up in the area. Bird trainers had their Pokémon trained so they would be able to see those signs or generally react to people’s situation and come back to notify their trainers. Which would set out the alarm and a professional group would be sent out. 

“Okay! Nothing to worry here!” He said. Stepping in front of the people without hesitation. “Back off! There is no reason to attack them anymore.” He addressed the Arcanines, “They won’t harm you.” He had made it a habit of his to try and talk them out of it. He seemed to have done a good job with Zacian and therefore wanted to calm down aggressive Pokémon. They wouldn’t turn around this time, so he had to force them. His snorelax with its ground type moves was perfect for that. 

And thus, the situation was saved. Hop had a team of bird trainers fly them to safety and give them a lecture. The people thanked him before leaving and handed him a gift. They called him their hero. Which got him flustered. No matter how often Hop does this he never gets used to it. Being called a hero was still too weird but very nice at the same time. He waved them good by and went on his own way. To Motostoke since it was rather nearby, and he had things to do there anyway.

On his way he stumbled across a trainer he knew very well yet didn’t interact too much with. “Marnie?” Said black haired was wearing her usual leather jacket above a light link dress. She didn’t look much different. Hop waved at her. “Hey. What are ya doing here?”

“Just walking around.” She was actually training. Hop could guess this much. She looked messy. He didn’t mention it though.  
“Mind if I join?” it was usual for him. he would join Masaru whenever he could. Out of habit he asked the same. He never had much of a rivalry towards Marnie. Neither much of a friendship. He made her a compliment the first time they met. Since it was amazing that she had already a fan club at that time. After that there weren’t many encounters with her.  
Only when they were in Wyndon. When they were, no when he was worried sick for his brother and needed to go to Rose Tower. Piers was supposed to get them there and Marnie helped. He really was grateful for that. She was pretty cool. “I am headed to Motostoke, you?” he added.

“Same”. She approved of his offer and started walking ahead. Followed by Hop.  
They walked in awkward silence for a good chunk of time. Both thinking about what they could talk about. Sometimes looking to the side appreciating the nature here. He spent a lot of time here lately. “So, I heard you’ll be a gym leader?” 

She basically was one. He knew about that but really needed a topic to talk about. He can’t stay silent too long. “Hm, yeah. My brother suggested it. Since I didn’t become Champion.” She was always a girl of few words. “And you were here for a mission?”

“Huh?” Hop was taken aback by her sudden question. It was no secret to the general public what he did nowadays, but that Marnie was interested was a weird thing. He thought she would not care much anyway. “Ah…uh. Yeah I have” he finally found the words. “Some people got stuck surrounded by a bunch of Arcanines and had to give out the signal.” He explained waving his arms around in a dramatic way. That was just his usual way of story telling. 

And Hop could talk about it proudly. Everything he did and the ranger system came from him. All his ideas, which he planned out in detail with Masaru and the league. But still.  
One of the first things suggested by him upon the question how people would contact him was that people should be given special items to make notice of them being in danger. Sometimes the network was really bad here. Especially when the weather changed rapidly. “They luckily had rock-types to shield themselves, but they were not strong enough for so many attackers. And their bikes broke so they couldn’t escape.”

Yeah, he was able to save the situation. “But man! Being a Gym Leader must be cool!” He smiled brightly. As if Marnie had a greater career than him. She noticed his tone. He was genuine but she had a hard time believing it. She would be waiting in Spikemuth for challengers for hours and if she is lucky she might join in the finals of the League. There wouldn’t be much for her to do though once the challenge came to an end. Gym leaders had good reputation but this part of the job was something she didn’t like. Well it was in the end better than nothing. 

Back then in the days she had heard from Masaru about Hop's bad phase. And had seen it on TV. When he lost to Gym Leader Melony. “You do great stuff too.” She said. Marnie felt like she needed to. All she was doing was taking over the spot her older brother didn’t want anymore but Hop went differently. He made a path of his own. Did something that was truly heroic and saved people nearly daily.  
The purple-haired boy stopped. Eyes filled with confusion. At this point Marnie realized that he was just like that. Not thinking too high of himself. Which was the opposite of what he presented himself two years ago, when he kept saying he would be champion, and what Bede had been before Opal. She continued. “You are still pulling off that heroic shit. Lots of people talk about you.”  
It’s true. Hop had gained a lot of recognition. Not only from his Gym Challenge. He stayed active. While assisting Sonia in the lab and studying there so he can gain more knowledge on Pokémon. He used that as the base for his real actions. His studies helped him a lot in terms of how to treat certain Pokémon to calm them down. He needed to know what exactly was in the Wild Area to get the typing right and be fully prepared. He even got Sonia to help lecture the teams that were ready to join in. They needed education and prove their battle skills before they were officially ‘employed’ as rangers.

Some years in the past, when Hop traveled through the Wild Area himself, he realized that there was not much for a system. Neither on the routes in between cities. But those areas were the Gym Leader’s duties. At the last conference, of th between Gym Leaders and Champion and other political roles. They were at first skeptic and almost declining his idea. Leon supported him just like he promised. And so, did Masaru. All Hop needed to do was giving them a clear vision on how he imagined it. He wanted there to be trained people with strong pokémon situated in different areas. They should educate especially newer Trainers, that were planning on joining in the Gym Challenge, on how to get through the Wild Area and what rules they had to go by. Nature there was as merciless as it was beautiful. And when something happened, that those trained people were ready to rush in and help. With strong Pokémon they would be able to do so.  
It took a while and a lot of work, but his idea played out. It gave a lot of trainers a new way. A new goal. Not many end up in the semifinals or finals, but they were still strong trainers on the search for a goal. An occupation just like him. 

It was a huge thing coming to the news. Hop was relieved at all the support he got. And how well it was. Never had he imagined that of all people Hop himself would be guiding people to safety and protect them. (aside from guiding Leon home all the time). He was a leader to them and respected. He was practically famous. Almost as famous as the champ himself.  
It felt good. It felt fitting and most importantly: He felt truly worthy of being the Sword Hero. And Zacian constantly smiling and nodding at him approvingly made him feel even better.  
He has archived his own goal and is not falling behind anymore. He caught up and aside from other missions he was looking forward to challenging Masaru again. He wasn’t in Leon’s shadow anymore neither was he falling into Masaru’s. He was his own person. People knew him as Pokémon Ranger Hop and the one Champion Masaru calls his true and only rival.  
He didn’t even realize when they reached the end and stood before Motostoke. A quick wave of nostalgia hitting him. Back then when he and Masaru crossed the Wild Area for the first time in their life and were attending the opening Ceremony. Speaking of which soon it would be time for the next Champions Cup. Many trainers will want to cross the Wild Area which also meant a lot of work coming in for him and his team.

It was about time to part ways. Marnie was here to run some errands and some gym leader related stuff. They both never had been friends but catching up on things like this felt nice and made both want to do it some point in the future again. “Well then I’ll be off. Good luck with your duties.”  
Hop nodded. “Best of luck with your gym duties. I am sure you’re gonna rock it.” He gave her a thumbs up. Which surprised Marnie a bit, but she smiled sweetly and nodded. “It would be nice to meet again sometime and maybe battle.” Hop nodded. Soon she was out of sight and Hop proceeded to go his own way.  
Meeting one of the challengers from back then made him nostalgic. Maybe he should go and meet up with the others and catch up on stuff.  
There sure were lots of things to talk about.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know about you guys but I do think that being a Ranger fits Hop better. Not like the Pokemon Rangers, but more how they would be in real life. So he would be having his Pokemon with him and not needing to have some wild ones for a period of time. I just think being actively a hero fits better. Instead of studying constantly in a lab. Plus I just could not see how saving and protecting made him conclude to being a Professor. For me that came out of nowhere. And I think Gamefreak missed out on the opportunity to present more careers that NPCs can go for other than Gym Leader and Professors (or their assistant)  
The wild area does give a chance for this idea to work. 
> 
> And I really wished that there were more interactions between our rivals. So I wrote Some interactions with him and Marnie. But she really hasn't got much screen time compared to Hop so I don't know if I did her justice. If not I am awfully sorry I tried my best.
> 
> Anyway I hope you enjoyed the one shot. I might be continuing this and show him interact with more characters. Like Masaru, Leon and even Bede.


End file.
